News From the good news department, here's a follow-up to a Murmur from Jan. 20: Multnomah County commissioners today approved spending $20,000 in county contingency money to keep open the Creston Children's Dental Clinic at Creston K-8 School in Southeast Portland until the end of the school year. The clinic has offered free dental care to kids for almost 50 years, but the volunteer organization ...   More

News Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler's annual "State of the County" speech today to the City Club of Portland turned into a test-run for how this ambitious pol would handle some of the state's most pressing issues. But first came his meat-and-potatoes rundown of the issues facing the county. Entering the final year of his first term and facing little opposition in his re-election bid so far, ...   More

News Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk just released a three-page letter that a six-person grand jury wrote him regarding the police shooting of 25-year-old Aaron Campbell. The grand jury's assessment of the Portland Police Bureau can only be described as devastating. The grand jury agreed unanimously on Tuesday that Officer Ronald Frashour did not break the law when he shot Campbell, ...   More

News African-American leaders from Portland this morning blasted City Hall and Portland police, calling for reforms at a rally in the wake of a Multnomah County grand jury's decision not to indict an officer involved in a fatal shooting. Nearly 100 people including religious leaders, former state lawmakers, political candidates and activists gathered on the steps on the downtown Justice Center. They ...   More

News Add Paul Van Orden's name to the list of candidates seeking the Multnomah County commissioner seat that Jeff Cogen said today he would vacate to run for the County Chair position. Van Orden, a 40-year-old former professional skateboarder, has worked about 14 years for the City of Portland as its noise control officer. In 2006, Van Orden ran a write-in campaign for Multnomah County Sheriff to ...   More

News Multnomah County Commissioner Judy Shiprack has made two endorsements for the May primary that observers may find surprising. In the Democratic primary race for state treasurer between former county Chair Ted Wheeler and state Sen. Rick Metsger (D-Welches), Shiprack tells WW she's endorsing Metsger. Shiprack is backing Metsger despite the fact she worked with Wheeler for more than a year ...   More

News If you've got a few minutes to kill, the U.S. Census Bureau — in its never-ending battle to count all of us — has this new map that lets you slice and dice census participation rates so far. A quick tour tells us the following three pieces of information as of today: Oregon's 29 percent rate matches the national rate, but is far below less procrastinating states like North Dakota ...   More

News Chuck Currie, one of eight candidates vying in the May primary to replace Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen, has recruited two familiar names for his campaign team. Currie announced this morning that Bob Durston, a City Hall veteran who served as chief of staff to Erik Sten when Sten was a city commissioner, will chair Currie's campaign. And Wade Nkrumah, a longtime Oregonian reporter, ...   More

News The newly constituted Multnomah County Board of Commissioners this morning unanimously agreed to pay $27,500 to a woman who alleged she was beaten by jail guards. Tina Phillips was 36 years old and living in Northeast Portland when Portland police pulled her over on Feb. 8, 2008, and cited her for reckless driving and DUII. According to a federal lawsuit (PDF) filed Jan. 13 this year, Phillips ...   More

News Who knew Multnomah County commission candidate Tom Markgraf once unpacked John Kerry's underwear? Or that his fellow commissioner wannabe, Paul van Orden, once opened for Fugazi? You do, if you attended Candidates Gone Wild last night at the Aladdin Theater. It was the ninth incarnation of the unique political infotainment extravaganza put on by WW, Live Wire and the Bus Project. Once again, ...   More